Books at the 25th Street Armory

Much of the fun of being immersed in the rare book world is in seeing our colleagues, many of who have become close friends. It’s funny, but the only time I see some of them is in San Francisco or Los Angeles or London or Vienna or Paris. If I saw them at home or in my shop, I might not even know who they were. But I wouldn’t be a surprised for a minute to see them in the airport in Madrid. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, active rare bookselling is a great way to accumulate frequent flier miles. But not this weekend.

The books have been packed in my battered vehicle with care, in hopes that the collectors soon will be there: At the 25th Street Armory in Manhattan this weekend. Heidi and I will head off late this afternoon, and arrive in time for dinner. Set-up will begin tomorrow morning bright and early.

During set-up at the Fair, we’ll try to beat David and Natalie Bauman and their staff of thousands to the good books, or failing to do that, maybe buy some together with them. Hopefully Abby and Corinne will be there and we will all lie to each other about how we haven’t found anything good yet.

We’ll get to have lunches or dinners with Peter Stern, Kevin Johnson, and who knows who else. Peter and I will visit Glenn Horowitz, and hope he doesn’t outsmart us, again.

Occasionally this New York fair falls on the same weekend as Bibliography Week, and the collectors and librarians who are in town for the festivities at the Grolier Club see little alternative but to wander over to the Fair. This year, regrettably, Bibliography Week happens next week. However, the Baker Street Irregulars, a group of Sherlock Holmes fanatics, most of whom are book collectors are meeting in town this weekend.